Biathlon grew from the traditions of hunting and battle in winter. It is now an Olympic sport, with a winter-long series of World Cups every year. It is hugely popular in Europe, and becoming more and more popular in the US.
Biathlon is an especially challenging and exciting sport because it combines very different disciplines:
Thanks to our friends at US Biathlon for letting us use this video and share the excitement of biathlon!
Biathlon races can have different types of formats, involving combinations of skiing, shooting prone and shooting standing.
The Rogue Invitational/Concept2 Biathlon event format was:
In this video, US Olympic Biathlete Hannah Dreissigacker, and her brother Ethan, Craftsbury Outdoor Center Biathlon Coach, introduce you to the sport.
This video gives you an overview of the mechanics of the shooting portion of the competition. You will learn about basic safety, body position, sight picture, alignment and aiming.
For athletes participating in the Rogue Invitational, you will receive further instruction prior to the event.
Every competitive biathlete has to have a strong mental game going into the race. Your focus, preparation, and race plan are critical to having the best race possible. This video gives you some helpful tips and tricks.
Most of you are already familiar with the SkiErg, but we’ve gathered these resources in case you wish to review them.
How can I practice shooting?
The kind of rifle you use for practice depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to get a general feel for shooting for accuracy with an elevated heart rate, almost any rifle will do; a .22cal (air or live ammo) would be fine.
If you want to more closely reproduce the event conditions, there are three main factors to consider:
Special thanks to:
Ethan Dreissigacker, Craftsbury Outdoor Center Biathlon Coach.
Hannah Dreissigacker, US Olympic Biathlete Sochi 2014.
Members of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, an Olympic development biathlon program.
The Craftsbury Outdoor Center.